Manchester City won after exchanging eight goals with Sunderland.
With a late goal securing the team’s victory, Erling Haaland also set a record by scoring against all 25 clubs he has faced in the Premier League.
The start of five consecutive wins is clear, but conceding three goals left a reason why Man City could not simply enjoy a comfortable victory.
3-Line Summary
1. Man City defeated Sunderland 5-3
2. Haaland scored against all 25 of his EPL opponents
3. Conceding three goals remains a task despite five consecutive wins
An Eight-Goal Shootout Ends at the Etihad Stadium
Manchester City (Man City) defeated Sunderland 5-3 in a home match in the 5th round of the 2026-2027 English Premier League season at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, on September 20. With this victory, Man City won all five matches since the league opener and remained in first place with 15 points.
The match was far from a one-sided victory. Whenever Man City moved ahead, Sunderland’s Brian Brobbey followed, and Brobbey recorded a hat-trick. Man City created a gap with two goals from Antoine Semenyo and other goals, but it allowed Sunderland to cut the deficit to 4-3 and could not relax until the end.
Man City earned three points, but the match can be read in two ways. The attack, which scored five goals, showed strength in producing goals from various scorers, while the defense, which conceded three goals, revealed that protecting the lead was not easy. After the match, manager Enzo Maresca also said he would prefer a 1-0 victory to a 5-3 win, indicating that he was not satisfied with the flow of a match in which many goals were conceded.
Haaland Erases His Final Scoreless Opponent
The goal that decided the match came in the 36th minute of the second half. Haaland finished Josko Gvardiol’s cross. Although offside was initially called, the goal was awarded after a video assistant referee (VAR) review. The goal made the score 5-3, and Sunderland’s pursuit stopped there.
For Haaland, it was more than a simple clinching goal. Sunderland had been the only opponent among the teams he had faced in the Premier League against whom he had not scored. He had failed to score in two meetings last season, but finally found the net in their third meeting, completing scoring against all 25 EPL opponent clubs.
The significance of this record lies not in the number of goals accumulated against one or two particular teams, but in the fact that he opened the goal of every opponent he had actually faced in the league. Haaland, who scored his 5th league goal of the season, also moved into first place in the scoring standings. The final goal that produced Man City’s five consecutive wins simultaneously completed the team’s continued hold on first place and his individual record.
First Place Through Five Consecutive Wins, with Three Goals Conceded Remaining
Man City has not dropped points since the opening of the season and produced a result through its attack in this match as well. However, the fact that Sunderland shook the net three times and equalized twice makes it difficult to say that Man City overwhelmed the entire match based on the 5-3 result alone.
Even after Brobbey’s hat-trick, Man City had to protect a one-goal lead. Only after Haaland’s goal was awarded was the contest effectively settled. Thus, the Sunderland match showed that Man City had found a way to win, while also leaving open the question of whether its attacking power can reduce the situations in which it must score many goals every time.
The clearest numbers from this match are five consecutive wins and scoring against 25 teams. However, the 5-3 flow between those numbers showed at once why Man City is leading the table early in the season and what it needs to improve.
References
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